operator

opérateur

mining engineer

engineer

commis aux comptes payables

Calfrac Well Services

Way under my expectations.
Throughout the 6 months I worked there I was busy and made descent money only for 2 months the rest was a joke. Poor communication. Long stay at hotels paid day rate only 146$ gross with no meal allowance. Had to pay for my taxi every day to and from the shop.
Dispatch and most of the supervisors poorly communicate and have poor leadership skills. They despise rotators and if you’re not part of the closed circle of people they won’t event say hi to you. Some of them are convinced they have a godly mission. It wasn’t worth the money to stay away from your family. They bomb you with emails regarding security and lots of bla bla but on the field nobody cares about you. I was asked to do things I was not trained for and when you refuse they’ll bust you. Equipment is beaten up. Too many variables at work for it to be profitable. If equipment don’t break down, if coil tubing or wire line doesn’t screw it up, if weather conditions are ideal, if consultant has no other objections, and if and if and if , MAYBE, you’ll make some good money.
They have one big job Every once in a while but yet you’ve gotta be in the lucky crew dispatched over there. The majority of the jobs are small ones with low daily bonus and often they are far away 6-7 hours drive. And I almost forgot As long as you stink of alcohol or look high as a kite at work, that’s fine.... until you provoke an accident but until then you can waste yourself no worries.

What is the best part of working at the company?
The people and the schedule. This shop in particular has a roster of long term employees that speaks for itself. When it’s busy there’s as much OT as you want, and the 8 and 6 rotation makes it easy to give up an extra day or two for the extra money. 

What is the most stressful part about working at the company?
The typical ups and downs of a decent sized O&G company. Decisions are made far away from those that are most affected. Work was very sporadic in my time there. Aggressive spending on new equipment one year turned into a massive layoff the next. The closer buddies you are with a manager, the better your chances of getting a job and keeping it. Lastly, you’ll want to lock up anything that’s not bolted down when you’re on days off. Never saw any theft but there is a definite lack of respect for people’s stuff from some employees. 

What is the work environment and culture like at the company?
Generally welcoming and heavily safety oriented. People are mostly in good spirits and looking out for each other. A pretty laid back shop environment overall and the maintenance department has some of the best management I’ve worked under.

Bottom of the industry benefits, pay depends on how often you're in the field (going camping quadding or fishing with people in positions of authority are the best way to ensure good pay).  

Management come from the field and have no idea what it takes to manage people, they're promoted to the point of incompetence because they know people higher up.

Be prepared to work 15-16 hours days when you do finally get into the field as they will try to run you into the ground or until you drop or burnout. No doubt you will be blamed for said burnout.

Good luck trying to move up without knowing someone, and be prepared to be treated like poorly on a daily basis.  You will hear the term "we own you for 15 days" repeatedly and they constantly remind you that you can be replaced... And they will, they recently laid off 60% of their workforce this spring.  You mean nothing to them, bottom line is all that matters!

Service first, people don't matter

Terrible leadership, terrible model, do yourself a favour and look elsewhere.  You'll thank me for it.

I learned a lot at Calfrac, i had never driven off road or used tire chains before, learned to work as a team, and to look out for each other while in the field.  difficult being away from home for a long time sometimes, but always got me home if there was an emergency. Typical day at work involved early start and checking over equipment before heading to location either on your own, or in a convoy, then unloading product or equipment , then returning to hotel or camp.
Everyone is expected to work hard, but within the law, and help out if someone has a problem, you have the right to refuse unsafe work like dangerous road conditions or faulty equipment.
Most enjoyable part of the job was  working with people you get on well with, unpleasant people dont usually last long at the job.

Older trucks , wages from last decade , this place isn’t up to speed regarding wages. 
Totally not the place to work for if you’re trying to get ahead. 
 If you’re looking to get in the patch , they’ll hire you , they hire as many green guys as they can cause it’s all they can get their hands on. 
They fix their old trucks yes but many mechanics , drivers and field operators left lately, all underpaid.  Don’t expect mid to high 30s to drive a truck.  
 It’s more in the 27$ to 31$ an hour range to start and forget about a raise. 
Other than a 3% we got last year to make up for what they took away , we never got anything in years.    
So they gave us some of our money back and called it a raise LOL. 
 It’s just not good anymore , not worth your time if you have lots of experience…
Do yourself a favour and try somewhere else first.  
I’m looking for something else.   Good luck.  

the most enjoyable part of the job:
Some of the people on crew

the hardest part of the job:
Sitting in the shop instead of making money in the field. Head of coil in Clairmont, he's full of himself and doesn't know head from hole in the ground

workplace culture:
Not great. Most crews don't work as a team, just singular units and push down the new guys from advancing, or talk poorly of them behind backs. Super cliquey between higher ops, supervisors, field supes and lead manager.

management:
Absolute joke on coil side, it needs a complete overhaul from the top down at clairmont. Self centered, car salesman type of lying through teeth, only your friend if you're a pushover.

what you believe you learned: 
Ground work and to leave somewhere for better money

a typical day at work:
Either puttering in the shop for pennies or ground work in the field.

What is the best part of working at the company?
For the most part Calfrac  was well organized. The equipment and the maintenance teams were top notch, the support from the technical teams was always great.

What is the most stressful part about working at the company?
time constraints in the field and working with coworkers who were not doing their part on the job site 

What is the work environment and culture like at the company?
work environment was fast paced and some days hard, the culture was amazing during my years there.

What is a typical day like for you at the company?
12 hour shifts, required to hold up your end of the tasks. during the winter it was quite cold and in the summers it was hot. There was not a lot of down time during the work shifts, working equipment requires a lot of focus.

I’ve never seen more dirty inside those trucks in my life, I don’t even know how to mention how bad and disgusting are inside the tractors. I was hired as a rotational worker 3 weeks on 13 days off. I’ve spent most of my scheduled work days in a freaking hotel room. The worst part is that when there is no work and you’re always sharing a room with a co coworker you will sit outside of the that hotel lobby till he wakes up some times 5 to 6 hours. It’s even worst when your night shift. They promise you that you will get travel allowance but the think is when your doing shop days you will need spend cab money, food and the ticket money. So you will end up spending more than they’re giving you. **STAY AWAY FROM CALFRAC**

This place use to be the greatest place to work right up to about 2 yrs ago and this is coming from a guy that had 5 plus yrs there. The pay is still ok even though they took a lot away but the morale is very very low right from the office to the field. And if your not in the clicks or on their favourite list then it's not worth your time especially one dispatch in general..!! But if your looking for a place to work for a short period I still wouldn't recommend it but  you could always find out for yourself...lol

Was a great place to work, great team of guys! very understanding with the rotation employees from the east coast and travel arrangements. They Cut out rotational in the spring of 2015 and from there on out the company went from being the best to not great at all. They did Cuts, Cuts, & more cuts and then they finally shut the doors at one district in Alberta. There was no notice at all, we all walked in one day and that was it, shutting the doors and left us all hanging looking for jobs in which some got transfers but they still did cuts after. This Company used to put people first but now its all about the MONEY. Hopefully in the future it will all turn around and things will get better for everyone...

Top Job Titles	Average salary
Operator 1 salary reported	$50.00 per hour
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Mining engineer 1 salary reported	$114,752 per year
Engineer 1 salary reported	$20.00 per hour
Commis aux comptes payables 1 salary reported	$52,500 per year

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